Elite Status

When Marriott executives decided to merge the Marriott, SPG, and Ritz-Carlton rewards programs in August 2018 they decided to wait until 2019 to settle on the combined program’s new name. And, with that extra time, they came up with… Bonvoy. I really think they would have been better off coming up with the name first (any name!) and taking more time to get the combined program technology right. But, what do I know? Rather than…

Earlier this week, Marriott officially announced the previously-rumored name and elite tiers of the “new” loyalty program. I know that change often meets resistance, and I’m not sure I had a better suggestion if they really wanted to change the name from Marriott Rewards…but neither do I have a worse suggestion. C’est la vie, from February 13th, 2019, Marriott Rewards, Starwood Preferred Guest, and Ritz-Carlton Rewards will cease to exist. Say “Bonvoy…” to…err, hello to…

Update: A reader reports registering now (in January 2019) and receiving Executive Elite status through February 2021 (H/T: Happy). I think that is likely accurate. My wife just did this. She previously had National Executive status courtesy of her Business Platinum card. She then did this match and her status immediately updated to Executive Elite. While it no longer shows the expiration date, it says that the membership is valid for the remainder of the year in which you…

Thanks to World of Hyatt’s partnership with the M Life, the loyalty program of MGM resorts & casinos, you can enjoy reciprocal status between the two programs. Hyatt Explorist and above matches to M Life Gold. If you previously matched your Hyatt Explorist status to M Life Gold, you can now match back from M Life Gold for this year and pick up 4 new club lounge access upgrades that are valid through February 2020…

Check your emails as American Airlines has sent out another round of targeted invitations to get an instant – and free – upgrade to Platinum or Platinum Pro status. The Deal Receive instant Platinum or Platinum Pro status with American Airlines. Registration link (only targeted members will be able to register though) Key Terms Register by January 25, 2019 at 11:59pm CT. Status will be valid through May 15, 2019. Travel completed before registration doesn’t…

If you have completed 50 nights at Marriott & SPG hotels through the calendar year, then you are eligible to pick a “Choice Benefit”. A second Choice Benefit is available for those who complete 75 nights. Here’s the website for selecting your benefit: choice-benefit.marriott.com/en-us/marriott-rewards/benefits. Jan 16 Update: Website is down again. Jan 15 Update: Choice Benefit Selection is now live (as of Jan 15 2019) and deadline for selection has been extended to Feb 7th. Note…

If you have United MileagePlus Premier status and you’re flying through Newark airport’s Terminal C in the next couple of days, you might be able to score a free meal at a number of restaurants that use an iPad ordering system. It’s a little unclear as to how this one is targeted and we don’t know when it will expire, but if you’re traveling through Newark with United status, you might be able to get a free meal.…

Earlier today, Gary Leff at View from the Wing published a post titled, “To Everyone Leaving Marriott for Hilton: You’re Nuts.“. I respectfully beg to differ — while I often enjoy Gary’s take on things, I can’t agree with him here. In short, I think Gary’s nuts to consider Hilton a non-starter. Lucky at One Mile at a Time beat me to the punch as to several of the reasons why I strongly disagree with Gary,…

This year, for better or worse, I’ve left Hyatt behind in order to focus on achieving high level Marriott status (see: Marriott Platinum Premier: Into the home stretch). And, next year I’ll be staying often at Marriott hotels in order to take advantage of temporary sweet spots that are available due to the Marriott / SPG merger. In a few cases, I booked award stays in advance because the post-merger award prices were much higher. For…

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